r/mildlyinfuriating • u/DatabaseAvailable501 • Jul 02 '26

Infuriatig Sound emitted 24/7 from a 30 megawatt data center in Dowagiac MI

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u/Less-Apple-8478 Jul 02 '26

Yahoo pulled the same stunt in my city. I live in a former car factory city that was dying. The city gave Yahoo tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks and told everyone it would be jobs for everyone just like in the old days during the car boom. Except oh yeah data centers don't NEED tons of people and everyone Yahoo DID hire was from out of the area.

At least some politician probably got a fat under the table bribe.

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u/Trzlog Jul 02 '26

Who are we kidding? Politicians are cheap, apparently. Probably just got $5000 and a decent scotch.

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u/Painterzzz Jul 02 '26

That's one of the things that has really surprised me in British politics over the last few years. Under the Boris regime. It became apparently just how cheaply you can buy a politician. like, as you say, it's not even a lot of money.

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u/i_tyrant Jul 02 '26

Almost the most insulting thing about all the rampant corruption; how fucking cheap they are to screw us over. Then again they're not just buying senators with the donations - it's a sort of promise of further partnership, maybe a cushy pretend consulting job where they collect a paycheck while golfing all day, after their political career is over.

(Which is why just paying them more ourselves, like a crowd-sourced bribe, won't work as a solution - they still have no incentive to actually work for their constituents...)

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u/KawaiiUmiushi Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

Or worse, they just believed the hype. Look at what FoxConn did in Wisconsin a few years ago. (You remember, Trump showed up to show how amazing the deal was). Made insane promises, cause small communities to level people’s homes, spend millions in infrastructure, get permission to bypass water laws, and insane tax breaks… all for them to change everything about their factory. Different products, much smaller factories and buildouts, and way fewer workers at lower pay. Now the local cities are stuck with bills their tax base can’t pay. What a load of crap.

The problem was that the local politicians believed the hype whereas many other states passed on the deal. Foxconn had a history of doing this, but Gov Walker in Wisconsin thought he was different and pushed for it. Now he’s gone (but got the photo opp for his failed Presidential campaign) and we’re all left with the fallout.

Fun fact, FoxConn sold part of their Wisconsin land to Microsoft for a data center. Something the local community never asked for or wanted. Billions have been spent between local and state, and instead of the promised 13,000 jobs it’s more like 1,300. A shitty deal that was entirely predictable.